


The Fall of Earth

by Hyx_Sydin



Series: Trope Bingo [6]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Community: sgareversebang, Community: trope_bingo, End of the World, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Series, SGA Reverse Big Bang Challenge 2017, Trope Bingo Round 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 14:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10596201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyx_Sydin/pseuds/Hyx_Sydin
Summary: “Long story short; the Sun is trying to kill the planet and all of the people on it. So I need you to let Carter beam you aboard the Hammond, and I need you to stay there.”





	1. The Milky Way

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Art for SGA Reverse Bang 2017](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10585233) by [penumbria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria/pseuds/penumbria). 



> Thanks to [penumbria](http://archiveofourown.org/users/penumbria/pseuds/penumbria) for the art, and being on the same wavelength about the plot of the story ♥
> 
> And a HUGE thanks to [melagan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/melagan/pseuds/melagan) for the beta and cheerleading, I know it wouldn't be as good as it currently is without you ♥
> 
> This is for the Trope Bingo Round 8 AU Apocalypse square, I hope it counts...

“All right people, listen up! According to the scientists our planet is in danger of blowing up. Even if it doesn’t, all life on Earth will definitely be destroyed. So the President has initiated _Exodus_ , which means all hands on deck.” 

Jack turned from the room to speak to the man beside him, “Walter I need you to get into contact with Midway, we’re going to need the emergency ZPM immediately. They should also try to get a message to Atlantis letting them know what’s happening here and to expect us in a few weeks’ time.”

“Excuse me Sir,” a young woman appeared at his side holding a satellite phone out towards him. “Doctor Jackson demands to speak to you.”

Jack took the phone with a sigh but before retreating to his office to have a private conversation, he yelled across the room. “When I get back I want to hear that we’re in contact with the International Space Station, all of our ships are in orbit and we’ve started beaming our people up.”

Leaning back against the closed door of his office with his eyes shut tight in the hopes of staving off a headache, he brought the phone to his ear, “Yes Daniel?”

“What the hell is going on?”

“Long story short; the Sun is trying to kill the planet and all of the people on it. So I need you to let Carter beam you aboard the _Hammond_ , and I need you to stay there.”

“No!” 

The sounds of car horns blaring and people shouting had Jack’s eyes flying open. “Daniel? Where are you?”

“If you think for a second I’m going to leave without you, then you obviously don’t know me too well Jack. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue. “Just get here safely.”

“Of course,” And then the call was disconnected.

Jack took a moment to enjoy the relative peace of his own office before pulling his office door open and wading into the thick of things.

“Do we have contact with the Space Station?” was the first thing he demanded to know.

“Over here Sir.” A young male voice called out and an arm was raised into the air and waved about. The young man’s uniform informed Jack he was Airman 1st Class Hamilton, and he was currently having a conversation with the Russian commander of the ISS.

“-the better; at our current speed it will take us three hours to get into position.”

“Don’t worry Commander,” Jack said leaning closer to the screen. “You’ll have that ZPM soon.” The Russian nodded and then he was being nudged aside as a familiar face appeared. “Bill what are you doing there?”

“I spend a few days here once a year to ensure all of our systems are working properly.”

“And are they?”

“Oh yes, definitely. And once the ZPM gets here I’ll plug it in and we can be in position in about an hour’s time, and then I’ll get the shield up and running.”

“And you’re certain the Station can buy us more time?”

“Oh yes of course. It’ll be exactly like when the Daedalus protected Lantea except we won’t be as close to the Sun so the shield will last longer and these aren’t just coronal mass ejections, they’re a buildup to Sol going supernova which would be really brilliant to see but also quite deadly. I was hoping-”

“Jack!” Daniel’s voice called out for him from across the room.

“I’ve gotta go Bill but as soon as the shield is up, I want you down here helping to square away whatever experiments you deem crucial. Understood?”

“Yes of course but what about the Station’s beaming capability? We could help get people to safety!”

“No can do.” Jack said even though he knew they could save so many more people if they utilized the Space Station’s beaming technology. “We need the shields to last as long as possible and for that it needs to be the only thing drawing power from the ZPM.”

Bill nodded and looked like he wanted to speak but Jack turned away from the console to find Daniel.

“Sir,” Walter said as he appeared at his side holding out a tablet. “The _Hammond_ will be beaming the ZPM to Doctor Lee as soon as it gets to Cheyenne, they’ll also be transporting Doctor Lee to Area 51, and then they’ll be ready to transport you on-board Sir.” 

“Tell Carter that I’m not going anywhere until I absolutely have to Walter.” He glanced down at the list of names displayed on the tablet’s screen, “What list is this?”

“That is the IOA’s evacuation list Sir.” Anybody who didn’t know Walter wouldn’t recognize the disdain in the man’s voice.

“This is only their people and their immediate families!”

“Yes Sir.”

“Thank God they’re Landry’s problem,” Jack said as he shoved the tablet at the other man in disgust. “What about the _Exodus_ list?”

“They’re making quick progress Sir. I believe all of the North American officials have gone through to the Alpha Site already, and with the _Odyssey_ beaming the other nations of the world the list shouldn’t take too long to complete.”

“What is _Exodus_ ’ plan for the rest of the world’s population once the list is complete?”

“There is none Sir.”

“So what, they plan on leaving everyone else here to die?!?”

“I do not believe they had an extinction level event in mind when they were creating _Exodus_ Sir.”

“Which is why we made our own goddamn list! How’s it coming along?”

“It’s slow going Sir but we’re making progress. At the moment the _Hammond_ , _Odyssey_ and _Sun Tzu_ are beaming people onto the _Apollo_. Once she’s full she will head to the Evacuation Site to offload her people while the other ships fill _Sun Tzu_ , and so on.”

“I thought the plan was that they each beam people on-board their own ships…”

“Colonel Carter thought it would be more efficient this way Sir, and now she is able to continue her monitoring of the Sun without interruptions.”

“Alright. How far out is the _Daedalus_?”

“Colonel Caldwell is pushing her engines but I don’t think the _Daedalus_ is going to make it in time to help Sir.”

“Dammit!” They stood before his office now, the window showing Daniel pacing within. “As soon as we have the important projects and experiments packed up, I want our people beamed out Walter. Have the _Odyssey_ beam equipment up while she’s not working on the _Exodus_ list, and tell Carter to leave the Sun alone and get to work on getting more of our people to safety.”

“Yes Sir.” Walter saluted before scurrying away.

Jack threw his office door open, the dry comment about the state of his carpet dying on his tongue at the sight of the suitcases and box sitting in one corner of his office.

“I packed everything I thought was important.” Daniel said as he ran a hand through his hair.

Jack brought his gaze back to the other man but faltered as he noticed the empty space on his desk. “Where?” was all he could say as he waved at the spot.

“Oh. I put it in the box already, just in case I forgot to do it when the time came to leave. I can’t believe that after all these years of saving the planet . . .”

Jack tuned Daniel out as he approached the box and tugged out the photo frame, smiling as he looked at a much younger version of himself playing baseball with his son. 

Hands settled on his waist as Daniel rested his cheek on Jack’s shoulder then said, “His baseball glove is in there too.”

Jack tried to jerk away as he remembered where they were but a frantic glance behind him showed the office door was closed, as was the blinds on the windows out into the Command Center. “There’s no point waiting down here with me.”

Daniel’s arms snaked around him as he pressed more fully into Jack’s body. “I’d rather be down here where I can see you than up there wondering if I’ll ever see you again.”

Jack relaxed into the embrace, glad for the other man’s stubbornness but not about to say it, a knock at the door stopped him before he could say anything. Daniel squeezed him and then pulled away, crossing the room to drop into Jack’s chair. “Come on in.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting Sir,” Walter said as he entered, once again handing over a tablet. “The ZPM has been successfully installed on the International Space Station. Doctor Lee says the shields are on standby, ready to be deployed as soon as the Station is in place Sir. Midway reports that they have sent a messenger off to Atlantis, and they wish to know when they should switch over to the backup macro Sir?”

“They should wait 24 hours after last contact with Earth before switching. And once the Station is in place and the shield is up, I want everyone on board the Station to be evacuated out.”

“Yes Sir.” Walter crossed over to the desk and retrieved the satellite phone, “Major General Landry is on line 1 for you Sir.”

“Thank you Walter,” Jack said accepting the phone from the other man. “Yes Hank?”

“General O’Neill, permission to evacuate the residents of Colorado Springs through the Stargate Sir?”

“Is that a good idea Hank? Wouldn’t it be suspicious if word got out that we were only evacuating the people of that one city?”

“Every single person on this planet is in danger and the only people we’re evacuating through the Stargate are bureaucrats? It isn’t right Jack.”

“You think I don’t know? You think it doesn’t weigh on me that we’re abandoning millions, maybe even billions, to their deaths? If we could save them all we would but we only have so much time and resources with which to save people. At least we’re able to save our own people and their loved ones, but if you feel that evacuating the people of Colorado Springs is something you have to do, then do it.”

“Sir!” Walter burst into his office, “The Station’s not yet in place but Colonel Carter says another ejection is headed our way!”

Jack raced out into the Command Center, “Someone tell Bill Lee that he has to activate the shield immediately! And warn the other ships!”


	2. The Pegasus Galaxy

“All I’m saying is that they should have been here already!” Rodney said as he continued to pace the short distance between John’s desk and the door to his office.

John understood the other man’s anxiety, it wasn’t any easier for any of Atlantis’ residents to go about life as normal as they waited to hear what had happened to Earth. It had been a month (36 days whispered Rodney’s voice in his head) since a marine had stepped through the ‘Gate from the Alpha site, with the message of Earth’s imminent destruction and instructions to await ‘their’ arrival. 

The fact that nobody knew who to expect added to the anxiety. Were all their families dead and gone? Or had the brilliant people of Earth found a way to save the planet? And if their home planet no longer existed, who were they now? Should they return Atlantis to the Milky Way and continue to protect their home galaxy? Or should they finally settle down and make Atlantis home?

“Sir,” Lorne said as he peeked his head into John’s office. “We’ve had word back from the Alpha Site Sir; they are still unable to connect to the Midway Station.”

“Thank you Lorne.” John was tired. Tired of this limbo they found themselves in, wanting and waiting to know the fate of Earth but also not wanting to know. Would it really be easier to move on after discovering that your family and friends no longer existed? Perhaps it was easier for him since his family was here, in Atlantis. He suppressed thoughts of his brother and the tentative relationship they’d been able to establish since their father’s death. “Let’s go to New Athos?”

“What? Why?” Rodney demanded as he whirled to glare at John. “What if they arrive while we’re there?”

“Then we’ll rush back Rodney!” John took a deep breath, not wanting to yell at the other man again. There was too much tension in the city. Woolsey had recalled all of the away teams as soon as they’d received word of the disaster, and then the city had prepared for refugees, should there be any. “I can’t sit around waiting anymore; I’ll just go by myself.”

Teyla and Ronon had travelled to New Athos a week after the message had come and had not been back to the city since, and John missed them. As the second last chevron locked into place he became aware of someone coming to stand beside him.

“If this is what you need…” John smiled at Rodney, transferred his bag to his other hand and interlaced their fingers together. “John?”

“If Earth is gone, DADT is gone. And if it isn’t, we’ll disappear out into the Pegasus galaxy. We’ve made enough friends that loads of people would be willing to help us.”

Rodney scoffed as they walked towards the now open Stargate, “You can run off by yourself, I’m never willingly leaving Atlantis.”

As they stepped out into the fresh air of New Athos, John leveled Rodney with his best pout. “You’d really let me go so easily?”

“You know I’m immune to that look John. And you’re asking me to give up on everything I’ve worked for, just because your country’s military has a stick shoved so far up-“

“Rodney!” Teyla swatted at him with her right hand, Torren attached to her left and hiding behind her legs. “There are young impressionable ears around.” John felt lighter as he laughed with Ronon, enjoying the sound of the soft giggles coming from the little boy who peeked around his mother’s legs up at them.

They’d only been on New Athos for two days when the communicator John always carried crackled to life and Lorne informed him that a message had arrived from the _Daedalus_. Teyla and Ronon returned to Atlantis with them, and when they set out the next morning for their rendezvous with the ship, all the anxiety he had shed over those two days piled back on.

~~~~~

O’Neill raised his hand in the Vulcan salute, “We come in peace.”

“Actually Sir,” John said as he repeated the salute. “It’s live long and prosper.”

“Well that too.” O’Neill said as he shrugged. “And no more of that Sir stuff. There's no more Earth, no more USAF, no more Homeworld Command; I’m just a man looking for a place to call home.”

“A place to call home for several thousand homeless people,” Dr Jackson added as he came to stand beside O’Neill. 

“Only several thousand?” John questioned, mind not able to comprehend so few surviving from the billions who once inhabited Earth.

Not that anyone heard him over Rodney’s loud voice, “How did you manage to transport several thousand people on five space ships? Don’t tell me you have them camping out in the hangar bay? What about supplies? How are we going to feed thousands of extra people when the food we trade isn’t even enough to feed Atlantis? And oh my God COFFEE!!!”

As O’Neill tugged him off to the side, John could hear Samantha Carter’s exasperated tone. “They’re not all actually on the ships at the moment Rodney…”

“Why doesn’t he come with a mute button?” O’Neill drawled. “You could let him get it out of his system without having to actually listen to him.”

“You get used to it after a while Sir, I mean . . . Mister O’Neill?”

“Jack. And your companions don’t appear to have gotten used to it.” John grinned knowing that was the truth but how could he explain that sometimes he thought clearest when Rodney ranted. “Ahh,” Jack said as he eyed John speculatively. “Love does work in mysterious ways.”

“Love?” John croaked out the word even as his cheeks heated, eyes steadfastly glued to the grass beneath their feet.

“You going to deny it?” Jack asked, eyebrows raised in challenge. “Not that it matters now anyway, **and** there are more important matters to discuss.”

“Isn’t this a discussion you should be having with Woolsey Si- Jack?” John was grateful for the chance to change the subject; holding Rodney’s hand in a room with maybe 20 other people was completely different from discussing how much you love your best friend with a man that was once your military superior.

“Woolsey can discuss all the boring political stuff with the representatives we brought along, I want to talk about Atlantis’ military forces.”

“Sure, what about the city’s forces?”

“I’d like you to continue to lead but if you remain Military Commander of Atlantis you can no longer go on away missions.”

John stopped walking to look at the other man, “Do you not want to be the Military Commander?”

Jack scoffed as he waved his hand, “Nah, I’m retiring. Going to spend the rest of my days fishing the waters surrounding Atlantis, and my nights curled up with the man **I** love.”

John followed Jack’s gaze to where Daniel Jackson listened attentively to whatever Teyla was telling him. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Jack grinned as he slung his arm around John’s shoulders, “He’ll be as happy as a kid in a candy store now that he finally gets to spend uninterrupted time in Pegasus. There’s bound to be all kinds of lost civilizations and languages for him to discover. Maybe I’ll even venture out there with him, make sure he remembers to eat and sleep. Does yours get like that; so absorbed in their work they forget everything else?”

John nodded because it was the truth, even if Rodney complained about his blood pressure and sugar levels he sometimes got too caught up in work to remember to eat. He thought about the Military Commander post and what it could mean for Rodney; would he be willing to accept a new team leader, or would he drop out of the team as well and concentrate on Atlantis? It was something for them to discuss later, back in their shared quarters.

“Jack?” John continued his question when he got a hum in response, “Is Rodney’s sister and her family on board one of the ships?”

“Yeah, they traveled with us on the _George Hammond_ actually.” Jack’s smile grew into a grin, “I’m not sure if McKay knows already but his sister’s pregnant.”

“Yeah?” John asked his own smile growing, “We didn’t know that.” John waved away Jack’s look of guilt. “It’ll be a great surprise for him.”

“We didn’t get to everyone on our list,” Jack said quietly.

“I’m sure everyone did their best to save as many as they could.”

“Still,” Jack sighed. After a moment he began to speak again, “I suggested that we bring your people’s families through first. So as soon as they get done with deciding how Atlantis is going to be governed, the ships will head for the city and start beaming them down.”

John nodded his thanks, knowing everyone back on Atlantis would be glad to know their families were alive and well. “Where are the rest of the rescued people?” 

“ _Exodus_ reserved the Alpha Site for all the ‘important’ people of the world, so we found somewhere new and named it the Evacuation Site. Everyone beamed off of Earth was ferried and beamed down to that planet, a majority of them are still there. We’ve been stockpiling essentials there too; food, water, seeds, toilet paper, etc. We even established a menagerie of Earth’s animals on one of the planet’s continents where they’re being bred. After Earth was gone and we explained as much as we could, the _Hammond_ headed for the Alpha Site to pick up our SG teams and offer the people there the opportunity to join us.”

“Were any of them foolish enough to decline?”

Jack scoffed, “The pompous bastards knew they’d never survive on their own on an alien planet.”

“But what about the Milky Way?”

“That is a whole lot of work ahead of us," Jack said with a grimace. "Let’s concentrate on getting everyone settled first?”


	3. Reunions

Theirs was a happy reunion when compared to most others in the city. His Dad still had contacts in the military and as soon as word started spreading that something was up, he’d received a call in warning. The former soldier had then fetched his wife from work early citing a family emergency and then called each of his children and demanded they come home immediately, and to bring all of his grandkids too. So that when a representative of the SGC showed up to ‘escort them to safety’, they were already all in one place and ready to be beamed up to the _Sun Tzu_.

Evan laughed as his sister told of how his father had marched to the ship’s bridge and demanded answers from Lt. Colonel Yin despite the other man’s less than stellar command of the English language.

It was the change in focus of his parents’ attention that alerted him to the person standing at the end of the hallway. “David?”

As Evan took a step towards the other man, Parrish’s eyes filled with tears. “Sorry. I just-” David bit his lip as he looked away.

If it had been before, he would have known what to do, how to act, but things were different between them now. He still loved David of course, had understood his need for something normal and open, and had accepted the end of their relationship when David decided to stay on Earth. But even now it still hurt; the knowledge that he was not enough, that even though it had to be kept a secret, their relationship hadn't been enough for the other man. 

“Evan?” His mother’s voice at his side broke him from his thoughts and a quick glance showed him her concern. Parrish still stood at the end of the hallway, arms wrapped tightly around himself, eyes glued to the floor. “I’m assuming this is him?”

Evan ducked his head in embarrassment as his cheeks heated. He’d spent a week at home before they’d left for Pegasus again and somehow his Mum had dragged the reason for his melancholy from him. He’d never told her his name but he’d told her everything else. “Yes Ma, that’s him.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her nod and then watched in a daze as she marched down the hallway to Parrish, said a few words to him, then wrapped him in a tight hug as he all but crumbled into her. Evan’s heart clenched at the sounds of David’s sobs and his throat tightened when his father passed him by, joining his wife as she held the young man who held his son’s heart.

Later, David would explain how he’d tried and failed to move on. How he’d practically begged to be sent back to Atlantis and been denied every time. How, no matter how hard he worked himself, he could never sleep more than an hour or two without Evan there to hold him. How he’d been of the last people to be beamed off the planet as the atmosphere had heated up, the oxygen being burned out of the air, as an eruption had made it past the Space Station’s shield.

Evan made sure to tell David every day that he loved him and held him extra tight at night as they fell asleep together, determined to erase the memories of their separation. His family had taken to David immediately, which wasn’t all that unexpected to him but seemed to take his love by surprise every time. 

Just that morning, his Mum had reduced David to blushing and stammering when she’d piled his plate full and pushed over a jar of McKay’s special sun block, telling him to be safe on his away mission. Seemingly forgetting that Evan himself would be there, to keep the other man safe. That he’d always be there.

~~~~~

He’d asked the first person with a Pegasus patch on their uniform he’d come across where he could find John Sheppard and been directed to the balcony off of the main room housing the Stargate. As he’d neared the double doors leading out, they’d whooshed open to reveal his brother leaning back against the railing and slightly into the man beside him, arms crossed in front of his chest and a huge grin across his face. Dave’s steps faltered, the man before him was so very different from the man he’d last seen the day after their father’s funeral. This was a John he had never seen.

The only other person he knew in the group turned in his direction, body tensing as his smile fell. “John,” he said, voice a deep rumble even as he kept his eyes on Dave.

The man beside his brother stiffened and pulled away from John, and he was surprised to notice that the mirth that had been wrapped around the group only moments ago was now no longer evident as they all turned to look at him. 

“Johnny I-” He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but it seemed that the sound of his voice broke his brother from his shock as he closed the distance between them. Dave’s breath stuttered as John hugged him, he couldn’t ever recall a time that they had hugged before, his own arms coming up automatically to reciprocate. 

When John pulled away his eyes were shining. “O’Neil didn’t know if they’d gotten to you.”

Dave’s smile was tremulous, “I was on Oahu.”

“Oh.” Their mother was buried on the island, the only place their father did not do any business.

Determined not to let them fall into an awkward silence, Dave cocked his head and grinned at John. “You have some explaining to do little brother.”

John ducked his head even as he shrugged, “Whatever you want to know.”

Dave was floored by the quiet words, they’d been in contact since their father’s death but John had never revealed anything about where he was and what he was doing, and yet now he was offering Dave everything. 

“How about we start with you introducing me to your family?”

~~~~~

“Richard.” At his name he looked up from the memo he was drafting to find the former USAF Colonel, Steven Caldwell, standing in his doorway. “May I?” he asked, indicating the office.

Richard pushed his tablet away as he wondered if the other man had ever called him by his first name before, nodding his assent. “Of course.” 

“Thanks,” Caldwell said as he made his way to the room’s controls, closing and locking the door as well as darkening the glass panels. 

Richard rose from his seat and backed away from his desk, hand searching for the edge of the cabinet behind him and the Wraith stunner secured under it. “What are you doing?”

“Giving us some privacy,” the other man said before sighing and scrubbing a hand over his face. “Marie’s threatened to talk to you tomorrow morning if I don’t do this now, so…”

Caldwell took a deep breath before turning to face him and Richard froze at the determination on the other man’s face. His heart hammered in his chest as Caldwell strode across the room towards him, he knew where the stunner was and he should be able to get to it in time if he’d only move, but then Caldwell was right in front of him. He could only stand and watch as the other man’s hands rose towards his neck, but then they were cupping his face and Caldwell was leaning in and oh. Caldwell was kissing him.

After a moment Caldwell pulled away, hands falling to his sides. “Guess I judged that wrong.”

Richard frowned, not understanding why Caldwell would sound so heartbroken, except . . . good God man, he hadn’t returned the kiss! “Don’t,” Richard said, voice a croak as he reached out and grabbed at Steven’s shirt, hauling him in and pressing their mouths together in possibly the worst kiss he had ever given.

Steven chuckled as he wrapped his arms low around Richard’s waist and pulled their bodies together so they touched from cheek down to feet. “Hopefully we’ll get better with practice.”

Richard heard the question in his tone and pressed his smile into Steven’s cheek, “Of course.”

“I’ve never actually been with a man before,” Steven said, and Richard could feel the heat in his cheek. “In any way, but I want to be with you Richard.”

He felt his own cheeks heat at the quiet admission, then remembered Steven’s comment from before. “Who is Marie?”

“My daughter,” Steven pulled away but only far enough so he could see Richard’s face. “She and Stevie, my son and namesake, can’t wait to meet you.”

“Your- You have children? And they know about this?” 

Steven’s smile grew, “As I said before, Marie was threatening to tell you herself if I didn’t. I don’t think Steven cares all that much, all he wants is to explore Atlantis.”

Richard pulled away from him, stumbling as he fell into his office chair. “I- I don’t know anything about children. We always planned on having them but, there was never a right time.”

Steven turned the chair towards him and then knelt before Richard, “They’re not exactly children anymore Richard; Marie is a trained nurse and Steven joined the Air Force like his old man. Just treat them the way you would any young adult.”

Richard scoffed, “Except they aren’t just any young adults, they’re your children. What if they don’t like me?”

“Who cares? All that matters is that I like you,” Richard scoffed again and almost didn’t hear the quiet words that followed. “Possibly even love you.”

Richard ducked his head as his cheeks heated once again, and for a man his age to still be able to blush was ridiculous! “I possibly love you too.”

His words made the worried look on Steven’s face disappear, which was replaced with a pleased smile. “Good.” And then Steven was leaning forward and kissing him again. 

“Maybe we should move somewhere more comfortable?” His only response was a nod and then Steven was getting to his feet before reaching a hand out to Richard to help pull him to his own. “Have you been assigned quarters yet?” Richard asked as he made his way towards the room’s controls to unlock the doors.

“Not yet, I was kind of hoping I wouldn't need my own…”

“Oh.” Richard returned to his side and linked their hands together. “I’d like that.”

They were still smiling at each other when the doors slid open, and therefore were both caught unawares by the perky voice that said, “Hi Dad!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you kindly for giving this a read, I hope you enjoyed! ♥
> 
> If you notice errors or anything out of place, please let me know. I feel like I'm forgetting something... :?
> 
>  
> 
> I totally just had a dumb moment: I hadn't realized I was supposed to post each chapter separately, so I'm sitting here wondering why it says 1/3 chapters :D Also, wow this is the most words I've written in forever, and mostly all in one night too.


End file.
